Microgrid-Friendly Pittsburgh International Airport Planning Massive Sustainable Aviation Fuel Production On-Site

    May 30, 2025
    The Avina plant will be just south of PIT’s terminal and could eventually produce up to 100 million gallons of SAF annually utilizing KBR’s PureSAF alcohol-to-jet technology which is owned by Swedish-based AB.
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    Pittsburgh International Airport, already engaged in microgrid adoption well ahead of many of its peer destinations, is now welcoming one of the biggest future sustainable aviation fuel production plants sited on airport property in the world.

    Avina Synthetic Aviation Fuel and PIT (the Pittsburgh airport’s official abbreviation) agreed to develop an on-airport SAF facility featuring tested alcohol-to-jet biofuel technology. The Avina plant will be just south of PIT’s terminal and could eventually produce up to 100 million gallons of SAF annually utilizing KBR’s PureSAF alcohol-to-jet technology which is owned by Swedish-based AB.

    Image credit Pittsburgh International Airport
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    “Pittsburgh International Airport has long been committed to resiliency and driving innovation in the aviation and energy industries,” Christina Cassotis, CEO of Pittsburgh International Airport, said in a statement. “This unique partnership with Avina and KBR will result in on-site SAF production and fills a growing need for our airline partners and the industry overall. With abundant natural resources, robust energy infrastructure, and available fuel storage, PIT is uniquely positioned to meet these goals and serve the growing demands for SAF.” 

    SAF is a biofuel which is refined to meet energy density standards and serve as a drop-in fuel blended with traditional jet fuel. The move at PIT has gained the approval of various aviation industry firms which are participating in the growth of SAF options.

    “In pursuit of responsible and resilient growth in aerospace, Boeing supports the development of advanced, synthetic fuels here in the U.S. to power air travel into the future,” said Mike Caston, Director, Americas Partnerships and Policy, Boeing, in a statement.

    Sustainable aviation fuel is produced from non-petroleum feedstocks such as agricultural resources and is measured to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Aviation currently accounts for 2% of all man-made carbon emissions globally and close to 12% of all transportation sector emissions, according to the Alternative Fuel Data Center within the U.S. Department of Energy.

    “KBR is proud to support the Pittsburgh International Airport team and enable it to be one of the first airports globally to provide SAF to its customers by producing it onsite at the airport,” Hari Ravindran, KBR’s Global SVP for Technology said in a statement. “PureSAF (alcohol-to-jet) Technology, is designed to allow the facility to deliver 100% drop-in fuel made from renewable feedstocks while meeting global specifications for sustainable jet fuel. This project is a real example of how innovation and strong business relationships are delivering tangible benefits to the aviation industry.”

    Diagram credit KBR
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    KBR is licensed to produce the PureSAF technology. Swedish BioFuels invented the process and spent years verifying it through a pilot plant. The feedstocks include ethanol and other alcohols derived from organic resources, then utilizes a synthesis of aromatics. This creates advanced SAF called synthetic kerosene, thus bringing this type of biofuel closer to traditional petroleum jet fuel chemistry, according to reports.

    Pittsburgh International Airport has been fortifying its on-site power backups and other distributed energy since the last decade.  PIT airport commissioned its microgrid featuring gas-fired gen-sets and solar power in 2021.

    The microgrid at PIT was built partially in response to the costly and lengthy power outage at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport a few years earlier, which cost Delta and other airline companies an estimated $100 million. Since then, JFK International, Dallas-Fort Worth and other airport sites have commissioned construction projects around on-site power and microgrids.

    Pittsburgh’s PIT has pushed even further into commercial and industrial energy transition technologies. Last month, IMG announced it was installing another 4.7-MW solar farm on-site at PIT, while a new hydrogen production and SAF agreement between PIT, KeyState Energy and CNX Resources was detailed late last year.

    About the Author

    Rod Walton, EnergyTech Managing Editor | Managing Editor

    For EnergyTech editorial inquiries, please contact Managing Editor Rod Walton at [email protected].

    Rod Walton has spent 15 years covering the energy industry as a newspaper and trade journalist. He formerly was energy writer and business editor at the Tulsa World. Later, he spent six years covering the electricity power sector for Pennwell and Clarion Events. He joined Endeavor and EnergyTech in November 2021.

    Walton earned his Bachelors degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma. His career stops include the Moore American, Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise, Wagoner Tribune and Tulsa World. 

    EnergyTech is focused on the mission critical and large-scale energy users and their sustainability and resiliency goals. These include the commercial and industrial sectors, as well as the military, universities, data centers and microgrids. The C&I sectors together account for close to 30 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S.

    He was named Managing Editor for Microgrid Knowledge and EnergyTech starting July 1, 2023

    Many large-scale energy users such as Fortune 500 companies, and mission-critical users such as military bases, universities, healthcare facilities, public safety and data centers, shifting their energy priorities to reach net-zero carbon goals within the coming decades. These include plans for renewable energy power purchase agreements, but also on-site resiliency projects such as microgrids, combined heat and power, rooftop solar, energy storage, digitalization and building efficiency upgrades.

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